[ Article ] Jang Keun Suk: "I am a type of the person who wants to value my own time even when I am married."

(This is the interview in Shukan Josei (Weekly Women) January 3＆10 2017 Issue.)

Following the single CD album "Darling Darling/Dry Kiss" which was released last August, Jang Keun Suk released "Endless Summer/Going Crazy" in September. He also put on sale another single CD album "I wanna hold you/My Wish" on December 13th, which made him release 3 single CD albums within 5 months. We asked Keun-chan who shines anew as a singer with sweet love songs sutable for the winter to talk about his music activities.

Why did you choose "I wanna hold you/My Wish" as your 3rd single CD album ?

Since my first and second singles ("Darling Darling/Dry Kiss"＆"Endless Summer/Going Crazy") are up-tempo, summery numbers, I had been looking for ballads sutable for the winter. Actually there were some possible tracks, but I chose these two songs relying on my instinct of listening to them for the first time. After trying to find "tone of the voice suitable for the winter" out of my key, I started recording the songs. When I recorded the ballad "I wanna hold you,"we first turned down the light of the recording room to make an atmosphere and then I sang in an emotional way concentrating on its lyrics.

"My Wish" is a cute, up-tempo love song, isn't it ?

I really love this song. I asked the producer to make it one of the Double Aside title tracks (laugh). I believe I will be able to dance like myself to this song on stages of my shows. I'm looking forward to showing my performance.

The atmospheres of your songs seem to be different between these three new single CD albums and your previous works.

I used to work with Korean staff and made a lot of songs which had strong rock feels. Since working with Japanese staff this time, I wanted to sing songs Japanese. I tried a new style of music which is different from my former one.

I see ! It's really great that you have truly absorbed not only rock and ballad but also nightclub numbers such as Team H (a musical unit made of Jang Keun Suk and DJ Big Brother) performs and you have made your own music !

I like all kinds of music. I want to have all the time to try out new types of music. Since I am confident in the music I play, it may offer an advantage for me as a singer. I have listened to Japanese music and songs a lot since I was a juinor high school student. That's why I wanted to make tunes Japanese this time and from now I will learn more about different types of music so that I can try to play R＆B and hip-hop.

Your new song is called "I wanna hold you."Can I ask you what or who you want to hold now ?

Myself ! I wanna hold myself who worked really hard in 2016 (laugh) ! I also wanna hold my eels (fans) who feel lonely and anyone who has no special plans for Christmas just like me. I imagine a situation like this: I have a date with my girlfriend. She is waiting for me to come. From straight ahead of her I will run full pelt toward her and hold her real tight.

What have you been into recently ? (What have you been crazy about recently ?)

When I was in my 20's, I performed on the stages with thinking something like I could die on the spot. But recently I've come to think that I should not die right here and now (laugh). Therefore, to build up my physical strength I started practicing boxing which my managers recommended to me ! Even when I go abroad, I bring my own boxing glove with me and practice for about one hour and a half a day. Boxing is aerobic exercise and effective for dieting. You can also release your stress by boxing and feel refreshed.

It has been 5 years since your debut as a singer in Japan. Please look back those 5 years and tell us what you think.

I do not regret a minute of those 5 years ! I was so happy and honored to make my debut as a singer in the foreign country. Thanks to my eels' (fans') support I could have a lot of precious experiences of perfroming at various venues ranging from huge concert halls to clubs with live music where I could stand very close to the audience. I truly feel grateful to my eels. I am so delighted that I could express myself in various ways as Team H as well as Jang Keun Suk and all those experiences are food for my life. Of course all of those were business activities, but I really enjoyed doing them with having a lot of fun.